The Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, inaugurated the Rahon-Machhiwara bridge on the Sutlej near Rahon on Saturday. He also laid the foundation stone of a bypass at Nawanshahr to ease out traffic in the city on the Ropar-Phagwara and Rahon-Nawanshahr sections.

Rush for forms at St Joseph’s
Jalandhar, November 18
Desperate parents trying admission of their wards were seen forming long queues outside St Joseph Convent School, Cantonment Road, even before the break of dawn today.

Panchayati union protest
Jalandhar, November 18
Members of the Punjab Panchayat Secretary Union today assembled in the city to put forth their demands related to promotion and revision of pay scales. Representatives were present from all 19 districts and demanded that panchayat officers should be promoted as executive officers of the panchayat samitis.

Plays on social evils
Jalandhar, November 18
The four-day zonal girls’ youth festival for affiliated colleges of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar continued for the second day at its Regional Campus in Ladhewali here today.

Staff hold rally
Jalandhar, November 18
Demanding release of notification of pension gratuity scheme, the members of Private College Non-Teaching Employees’ Union held a rally outside district administrative complex here today.
They raised slogans against the government for not fulfilling promises related
to release of gazette notification pertaining to pension gratuity scheme,
release of 95 per cent grant, 5 per cent interim relief and increase of medical
allowance from 250 to 350.

Private College Non-Teaching Employees Union protest in front of the District Administrative Complex, Jalandhar, on Saturday.
— Photo by S.S. Chopra

Girl abducted
Hoshiarpur, November 18
The police has registered a case under Section 365 of the IPC against Partap Singh son of Baba Singh of Bharatpur Jattan in a case of abduction of a 24-year-old girl of Dadial village on Thursday.

Nawanshahr, November 18
The Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, inaugurated the Rahon-Machhiwara bridge on the Sutlej near Rahon on Saturday. He also laid the foundation stone of a bypass at Nawanshahr to ease out traffic in the city on the Ropar-Phagwara and Rahon-Nawanshahr sections.

The bridge has been constructed at a cost of Rs 33 crore. It would shorten the distance to New Delhi via Khanna–Samrala by about 65 km. The construction work of the 19-km-long and 50-ft-wide Nawanshahr by-pass would be started within one month.

About 228 acres of land would be acquired and farmers would be paid according to the market price.

Capt Amarinder Singh, while talking to mediapersons said the next phase of ‘Vikas Yatra’ would start from November 22 in the Majha region. It would reach all the Assembly segments, covering 5800 km before the next Assembly elections.

The CM reiterated that Chandigarh belonged to Punjab as it was set up by late Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon. Haryana should set up its own capital, like Himachal Pradesh. He also reiterated that Punjab had no surplus water for neighbouring states. Water in the rivers as well as underground water table had depleted, hence the state could not spare water for other states.

Capt Amarinder Singh, while answering a question said there was no ban on the recruitment in the state. The state government had recruited 70,000 employees in different departments while the previous SAD-BJP government had recruited only 32,000 employees, he said adding that in the present era of globalisation the recruitments were being done on contract basis in all the states, including Punjab. He said pension and gratuity scheme for the employees of government aided colleges would also be implemented soon.

Jalandhar, November 18
Government Girls’ High School, Maqsudan, got a scare after a hoax bomb call.

The Headmistress, Ms Manoranjan Kaur, received a call at 11:55 am and informed the police. The police officials took their own time and reached the school premises at 12:30 pm. The search for the explosive proved futile.

Students had no knowledge of the search and classes went as usual.

The Headmistress said she did not want to create panic in the students though many opined that the building should have been evacuated for the safety of 490 children studying there and 220 students in the adjoining Government Elementary School.

After 1 pm, a dog squad arrived at the campus. It was then that the girls were told to come out in the verandah, just outside their classes, so that the school bags too could be checked.

The SSP, Mr Ishwar Singh, confirmed that it was simply a hoax call and efforts were being made to trace the caller.

Jalandhar, November 18
Desperate parents trying admission of their wards were seen forming long queues outside St Joseph Convent School, Cantonment Road, even before the break of dawn today.

Even as the school authorities had notified that the admission forms would be available from 8:30 am onwards, the parents had started queuing up before midnight as they had learnt that only a limited number of forms would be distributed.

The first 15 parents in the queue said that they had lined up at 11:45 last night. “I had come here with my family last night simply to take a round, when I saw six to seven parents standing outside the gate forming a queue. I immediately dropped my family home and came back to see that three to four more parents had lengthened the queue,” said the father of a candidate.

Eyewitnesses said that by 2 am there were 45 parents; at 7 are 500. Seeing the rush, a few parents voluntarily distributed paper tokens for orderly distribution of forms.

At 8:30 am when the school gates were opened, there were more than 600 parents who formed a queue right till the Defence Colony traffic lights near Sadar Police Station. Those who arrived late (but even two hours before the school’s schedule) had to go back home disappointed as only 350 forms were
distributed. Police personnel had tough time managing traffic outside the school.

Jalandhar, November 18
Members of the Punjab Panchayat Secretary Union today assembled in the city to put forth their demands related to promotion and revision of pay scales. Representatives were present from all 19 districts and demanded that panchayat officers should be promoted as executive officers of the panchayat samitis.

The 909 panchayat secretaries on contract demanded a running scale and a regular post, besides a raise in salary from Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000.

Jalandhar, November 18
The four-day zonal girls’ youth festival for affiliated colleges of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar continued for the second day at its Regional Campus in Ladhewali here today.

Teams from various colleges of Jalandhar, Phagwara and Kapurthala participated in the festival. Contests for mime, western solo and group song, music instrumental (percussion and non-percussion) and skits were held today.

The skits covered various issues concerning social life including female foeticide, corruption and yellow journalism.

The function began yesterday with giddha competition where girls from nearly 15 colleges in bright, colourful suits and lehngas with traditional saggi phul and parandas danced to a fast rhythm with bolis.

Jalandhar, November 18
Demanding release of notification of pension gratuity scheme, the members of Private College Non-Teaching Employees’ Union held a rally outside district administrative complex here today.

They raised slogans against the government for not fulfilling promises related to release of gazette notification pertaining to pension gratuity scheme, release of 95 per cent grant, 5 per cent interim relief and increase of medical allowance from 250 to 350.

Hoshiarpur, November 18
The police has registered a case under Section 365 of the IPC against Partap Singh son of Baba Singh of Bharatpur Jattan in a case of abduction of a 24-year-old girl of Dadial village on Thursday. Mr Chan Singh stated that his daughter Kamaljit Kaur had been missing since October 11, 2006. He suspected that Partap Singh had abducted his daughter.